The High Court has scheduled a hearing on Wicklow County Council’s draft remediation plan for a waste site in Whitestown, County Wicklow, while preserving the existing deadline for completing remediation.
In an order made on 14 November 2022, Mr Justice Humphreys directed that the plan’s approval, amendment or other consideration be heard from 24 January 2023, continuing day to day as necessary. The hearing is to address specified issues about the plan’s compliance with earlier court orders, the remediation methodology and environmental requirements, and whether the plan includes procedures or activities not authorised by those orders. It will also consider whether the landowner could remain responsible for waste or consequences of the council’s actions after remediation.
The judge said any order arising from the council’s application to approve the plan would be without prejudice to existing orders, particularly the long-stop deadline of 19 January 2024. If the site remains unremediated on 20 January 2024 or later, either party may make an application it considers appropriate. The court did not decide at this hearing whether the council had breached the existing timeline or whether it should receive any extension or other indulgence.
The proceedings arise from illegal dumping that began in 1979 at the Whitestown site. Brownfield Restoration Ireland Limited, the landowner, brought waste enforcement proceedings against the council, in part alleging that remediation actions were inadequate or inappropriate. The court had ordered remediation in 2017, with a final deadline later set at 19 January 2024. A 2019 Court of Appeal decision dismissed an appeal concerning the timeline, and the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal on that issue in 2021.
Brownfield also sought disclosure of documents about remediation steps and raised concerns about funding expert assistance. The judge considered disclosure more relevant to the timeline and any consequences of non-compliance, and said it could be pursued in separate 2020 proceedings. He said those proceedings had not been advanced during the preceding 12 months and he did not need to decide their future at this point. Brownfield would need to serve notice of intention to proceed and a detailed discovery letter to pursue discovery there. The judge also said he could not identify a procedural basis for ordering funds for expertise in the absence of a formal application.
The court granted liberty to either party to mention the matter before the scheduled hearing, on notice to the List Registrar. The judgment was delivered on 2 December 2022.